This is the incredible moment a mother and daughter from Illinois arrived safely back in Israel after being kidnapped by Hamas and held hostage for 13 days. 

Judith Tai Raanan and her daughter Natalie Shoshana Raanan arrived back in Israel late on Friday, the Israeli government confirmed. 

An image of the two being taken back into Israel was also shared by authorities in the area, with the pair surrounded by armed soldiers. 

Anthony Blinken, the Secretary of State, said Hamas is still feared to be holding 10 Americans hostage.

The Secretary of State revealed the number still missing during a press conference in which he announced the release of Judith and Natalie Raanan.

Judith Tai Raanan and her daughter Natalie Shoshana Raanan arrived back in Israel late on Friday, the Israeli government confirmed

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told reporters that 10 Americans remain hostages of Hamas, after it was revealed Illinois mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan had been released Friday 

Hamas hostages Judith Raanan and Natalie Raanan, a mother and daughter from Chicago, have been released by the terror group

Blinken said he had no further information to offer on the ‘status or condition’ of the Americans still believed to be in Hamas custody following the October 7 terror attacks.  He also refused to comment further on how the Raanans are doing after being handed over. 

Blinken told reporters: ‘We welcome (the Raanans’) release. We share in the relief that their families, friends and loved ones are feeling.

‘But there are still ten additional Americans who remain unaccounted for in this conflict. 

‘Some of them are being held hostage by Hamas along with an estimated 200 other hostages held in Gaza. They include men, women and young boys, young girls and people from many nations. Every single one of them should be released.’

The Daily Mail was first to confirm the identities of Judith Raanan and Natalie Raanan, a mother and daughter from Chicago who were visiting Israel for a relative’s birthday when they were kidnapped. 

Hamas armed wing spokesman Abu Ubaida issued a statement announcing the release on Friday, almost two weeks after the militant group took around 200 hostages during an October 7 attack that killed 1,400 Israelis, mostly civilians.

Judith and Natalie were handed over to the Red Cross at an Egyptian border-crossing alongside the Gaza Strip and are now en route to a military base in the center of the country, where their family awaits them. 

President Biden released a statement saying his administration had ‘secured the release’ of the Raanans and sympathized over the ‘terrible ordeal’ they’d endured.  He added that he was ‘overjoyed’ by the women’s release and that he was continuing to work to free other captured Americans. 

Earlier this week, Martin Fletcher, one of MSNBC’s long-term Middle East correspondents broke down on air while revealing the hostages Judith and Natalie Raanan are members of his wife’s family.

‘They were last seen, their hands tied, being dragged away by the Hamas terrorists. So it’s personal, it’s real, and nobody is really confident that it’s possible to get them back alive. Of course, everybody’s hoping,’ Fletcher told Stephanie Ruhle on Thursday. 

Through tears, Fletcher said: ‘Hamas is using the hostages for psychological warfare.’ He described the conflict as a ‘very personal thing.’ 

‘Nobody is really confident that it’s possible to get them back alive,’ he somberly added.

Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, said the mother and daughter were released ‘for humanitarian reasons’ in response to Qatari mediation efforts.

In a blustering statement, Abu Ubaida said the move would ‘prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by (President Joe) Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless.’

Israel responded to the Hamas massacre and hostage crisis by pounding Gaza with air strikes, killing more than 4,000 people according to Hamas, and has said it will act to free the hostages while wiping out the terror group.

Seventeen-year-old Natalie (above) and her mother were visiting family in Israel for the Jewish holidays and a relative’s 85th birthday

Israelis, whose close ones were taken hostage during a Hamas attack, demonstrate during a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Israeli leaders earlier this week

Israeli tanks and troops are amassed near the perimeter of the enclave for an expected ground invasion, calling on Palestinians to evacuate the north of Gaza, where it says Hamas is dug in.

Israel has also said that there will be no end to its full blockade of the enclave unless Israeli hostages are freed.

Hamas says it has some 200 hostages and that 50 more are held by other armed groups in the enclave. 

The group claimed more than 20 hostages have been killed by Israeli air strikes, but has not given any further details.

Mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan were visiting Israel from Chicago when they were abducted 

Natalie Raanan is a typical 17-year-old: she loves art, makeup, fashion, and DoorDash — ‘she hates eating at home,’ said her brother, Ben Raanan, told The Associated Press this week. 

She graduated from high school in the Chicago suburbs this year, and has a birthday coming up, according to her brother, who is 34 and based in Denver.

Before she left on a trip to Israel to celebrate her grandmother’s 85th birthday and the Jewish holidays with her mother, Judith Raanan, the teen was deciding between going to college to study interior or fashion design and taking an apprenticeship with a tattoo shop.

The pair had been sending updates as the trip progressed and were enjoying ‘this really special mom and daughter time together,’ said their rabbi, Meir Hecht.

But the family hadn’t heard from either mother or daughter since Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack.

Natalie Raanan was visiting family for the High Holidays with her mother, Judith, when the assault began on October 7

Judith Raanan was also taken hostage along with her daughter. Their family in Illinois has not heard from them since Saturday

Natalie is ‘just a very loving, kind person,’ said her older brother, Ben Raanan. Their middle brother, Adam, is nonverbal and much older than she is, but Natalie makes it a priority to maintain a strong bond with him, he explained.

The family has been in touch with both U.S. and Israeli government officials, who confirmed Natalie and Judith are alive and being held hostage by Hamas, according to Ben Raanan, speaking prior to news of Friday’s release.

‘This whole situation is surreal,’ he said. ‘We are a very peaceful family. We do not advocate at all for any violence to be done to anyone in this world.’

Judith Raanan is very active in her faith community, Chabad of Evanston, said her friend and the rabbi’s wife, Yehudis Hecht. 

Judith came to Shabbat almost every week, helped prepare the Kiddush lunch, and just before she left for Israel, dropped off a pink prayer book for the Hechts’ seven-year-old daughter, who loves the color, said Yehudis Hecht.

A few dozen community members gathered to pray for the Raanans’ safe return in the days after the Hamas attack – and are set to be delighted at news of their safe release.

‘Judith, we’re thinking of you. Of your resilience, your hope, your love, your generosity, your faith and your strength. We know you’re a strong woman and we pray that we see you safely very soon with your dear Natalie,’ Yehudis Hecht said at the event.